E-Financial
Unleashing the Power of Conversational Banking to Redefine Customer Engagement
By Dean Baker, Squad Lead, BFSI – Infobip
Conversational banking, sometimes called chat banking, refers to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and chat technology to help customers conduct traditional daily banking activities via digital communications channels on a mobile device.
Dean Baker, Squad Lead, BFSI – Infobip
Leveraging mobile messaging platforms, conversational banking has ushered in a new era of seamless and personalised banking experiences, tailored to meet the unique needs and preferences of each individual.
When conversational banking is delivered well, customers get both a more convenient and rewarding service experience. In other words, conversational banking leads to improved customer experience and ultimately improved customer loyalty.
Notably it has transformed how customers engage with their banks, providing a seamless and personalised experience using mobile messaging. However, a solid foundation for any conversational customer experience today is omnichannel communications, which is the ability to reach customers where and when they want, on their preferred channels.
Through chat apps, conversational banking provides instant, contextual, and personalised communication. Clients have the convenience of engaging with chatbots or agents 24/7 over a single platform where conversation history is saved for later reference.
An important aspect of banking is the ability to seamlessly shift the “conversation” to a human agent if and when needed while having the ability to present the engagement thus far to the agent, so as not to lose conversational context.
Conversational context
For example, should the customer have a question the chatbot cannot answer or if the customer gets stuck in the automation journey, they can be transferred to an agent with the conversational context, so the agent carries on where the conversation stopped, without the customer needing to explain everything all over again.
Choice is key and the caveat to an enhanced customer experience is to have the ability to deliver conversational banking over the customer’s channel of choice with the ability to move between channels without losing the context of the “conversation”.
One of the crucial customer benefits of conversational banking using chat apps is enabling customers to reach the financial institution whenever and wherever they may be. This will help build the trust required for successful long-term client-bank relationships.
The more a customer interacts with their bank through these conversations, the more a bank understands the customer’s preferences, habits, and needs – making it easier to personalise future transactional and promotional messages.
Conversational banking also brings various benefits to financial institutions, including speeding up time to resolution of queries or FAQs and automating the collection of data. Automation in call centres not only reduces costs but also enhances customer satisfaction, as customers who have a positive experience with a brand tend to report higher levels of satisfaction.
Revenue growth
Additionally, revenue growth can be driven through upsell, cross-sell and lead-generation efforts that can be personalised through conversational banking. Using conversational banking with AI-supported chatbots can also significantly reduce agents’ time spent on real-time support calls. Financial institutions can therefore support more customers with the same number of agents using chat apps. This reduces the pressure on customer service representatives and frees them up to handle more complex customer transactions.
AI technology plays a very important role in powering conversational banking experiences, as it enables chatbots to understand customer voice or text communications and to reply, simulating actual conversations. AI uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to allow chatbots to determine meaning from language through common data elements.
However, the key challenge for financial institutions to overcome when looking to adopt a conversational banking journey is to choose the right communications platform and partner. Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) and conversational AI should give organisations all the tools they need for a great conversational banking experience. However, the key is to be able to customise these tools to align with their unique use cases and understanding of what their customers want.
The disruption within the banking sector is evident, as seen by the remarkable growth of fintech startups that have multiplied sevenfold over the past five years. Traditional banks must recognise and address these emerging challenges to remain relevant and competitive by embracing digital transformation effectively and adopting innovative strategies and new technologies to position themselves to thrive.
Debt Management Office (DMO) said the federal government spent N3.14 trillion on servicing its domestic debt in the first quarter of 2026.
The office disclosed the data in its latest domestic debt service report for Q1 2026.
The figure comprises N2.97 trillion in interest payments and N169.68 billion in principal repayments.
The agency said in January, the government spent N741.82 billion on domestic debt service, while the figure rose to N967.67 billion in February.
Debt service increased further to N1.43 trillion in March, bringing the total for the quarter to N3.14 trillion.
The March figure was 47.7 percent higher than the N967.67 billion recorded in February and 92.7 percent above the N741.82 billion spent in January.
Also, the debt office said interest payments accounted for about 94.6 percent of total domestic debt service during the quarter.
The DMO said treasury bills accounted for the largest share of interest payments at N1 trillion, while interest on federal government bonds stood at N1.96 trillion.
The agency said the government also paid N4.24 billion in interest on FGN savings bonds during the period.
The DMO said the principal component of the debt service comprised N169.68 billion in repayments on local-denominated promissory notes.
Overall, the government’s domestic debt service rose sharply through the quarter, with March accounting for almost half of the N3.14 trillion spent between January and March.
Nigeria’s public debt increased by 0.01 percent to N159.35 trillion in the Q1 of 2026.
Interswitch Group, an integrated digital payments and commerce company, together with global banking software provider, Temenos have reassured the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of their commitment to advancing the modernisation of Nigeria’s financial services sector.
Interswitch and Temenos had earlier in June announced a strategic partnership across Africa which would see Interswitch leverage Temenos solutions – across core banking, digital banking, payments, wealth management and financial crime mitigation – to provide cloud-hosted and on-premises managed services to banks and financial institutions across Africa.
This will enable institutions to progressively transform their banking platform and evolve to more customer-centric business models. The service will initially support key African markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and others.
The recent regulatory visit to CBN headquarters in Abuja, was led by the Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, and Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) at Temenos, Santhosh Rao, as part of the ongoing efforts by both organisations to deepen collaboration with Central Banks across the African region on the future of digital banking infrastructure across Nigeria and key African markets.
Discussions centred on the strategic partnership between Interswitch and Temenos, and how it will enable Nigerian financial institutions to progressively modernise their core banking platforms and transition to more customer-centric business models.
The two organisations also explored opportunities to work with the CBN in charting new frontiers in Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) innovation, leveraging resilient financial networks and decentralised application platforms to support the issuance and management of CBDCs.
Commenting on the visit, Elegbesaid: “Our partnership as Interswitch with Temenos and our continued engagement with the Central Bank of Nigeria reflect a shared commitment to building banking infrastructure that is resilient, inclusive, and ready for the next phase of Africa’s financial evolution.
We are proud to be at the table as these conversations shape the future of digital banking technology and innovation across key Africa markets…”
The Bank of Industry, through BOI Financing SPV Plc, has opened subscriptions for its inaugural Series 1 Fixed Rate Bond worth up to N250bn under its $1bn multi-currency instruments programme, seeking to raise long-term capital to finance businesses across Nigeria’s priority sectors.
The offer, which opened on 5 August and closes on 11 August, is being arranged by Chapel Hill Denham as the lead issuing house. The five-year bond is priced within a yield range of 17.35 per cent to 17.50 per cent and will be listed on the FMDQ Securities Exchange.
According to the offer document, proceeds from the issuance will be deployed to finance eligible businesses and projects across sectors, including agriculture and food processing, healthcare, engineering and technology, renewable energy, petrochemicals, oil and gas, creative industries and solid minerals, in line with BOI’s development finance mandate.
The lender said the financing is expected to improve access to medium and long-term funding for Nigerian enterprises, expand productive capacity, create and preserve jobs, deepen local value addition, support import substitution, boost exports and strengthen domestic value chains.
BOI, Nigeria’s foremost development finance institution, said it has provided funding to more than one million businesses across the country and disbursed over N1.27tn between 2023 and 2025. The institution operates across 34 states and the Federal Capital Territory and is jointly owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The bank also highlighted its financial performance, reporting a 36 per cent compound annual growth rate in gross earnings between 2021 and 2025.
Interest income rose 64 per cent to N884bn in 2025 from N538bn in the previous year, while its capital adequacy ratio stood at 39 per cent, nearly four times the regulatory minimum of 10 per cent. Its non-performing loan ratio was 1.7 per cent, below the CBN’s prudential limit of five per cent.
The bond has been assigned AAA ratings by Agusto & Co. and Intelligence Africa, reflecting the issuer’s strong capitalization, profitability, liquidity and ownership structure.
The issuance is open to institutional and qualified investors with a minimum subscription of N5m and additional investments in multiples of N1m. Interest will be paid semi-annually at a fixed rate, while principal repayment will begin in the third year through equal semi-annual amortised instalments until maturity in 2031.
The bond is also exempt from tax, making it an attractive investment option for investors seeking stable returns amid expectations of declining interest rates.
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